The Beacon of Kyushu

When Wan Jianfeng was first called by Lu Duan, he never thought that the thief who stole the golden mace was actually "Li San" that day, and he never thought that there was such a touching past behind the incident. As Ying Rufeng requested, only the leaders or the first disciples of the major sects might have the courage to handle a major case involving so many martial arts masters and the three kingdoms of Song, Yan, and Liao. But now that Wan Jianfeng heard it, he couldn't ignore it. Even though his identity was not enough to change the decisions of the princes and even the officials, he had to stand up for this thief who had a deep connection with him.

"Brother Ying, just rest assured and leave this matter to me. I will definitely not let them kill you! You may not know me yet, but with my eloquent tongue, I can even bring the dead back to life, let alone these corrupt officials and incompetent kings!" Wan Jianfeng patted Ying Rufeng's shoulder, with a calm and confident look on his face, as if the other party's life and death all depended on his thoughts.

Ying Rufeng raised his lips and said calmly, "Young Master Wan, my parents are gone, my master is gone, and even the dog official Liu Yu I mentioned was killed by a Liao master. I have nothing to worry about now. Since my life was saved by the ancestor, what does it matter if I die for him? If you can save me but don't, I will definitely curse your ancestors for eight generations, but if you are powerless but insist on saving me, I will also curse your ancestors for eight generations."

Wan Jianfeng rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Brother Ying, I don't want to be scolded by you, so I'm going to plead for you. But it's inevitable that you will have a few more gold marks on your face, so don't blame me for this."

Ying Rufeng knew that Wan Jianfeng meant to change his death sentence to exile, and he was a little bit unbelievable. But he was just a prisoner now, and asking too many questions that he shouldn't ask would only bring bad luck, so he chose to shut up and show a grateful smile, and with the smile, he also gave up his life.

Wan Jianfeng clasped his fists and walked out of the second hall pretending to be relaxed. He ran into Zhao Tingmei, who was pacing at the door with an anxious look on her face. Zhao Tingmei saw Wan Jianfeng coming out and hurriedly stopped and asked, "How is it, did Ying Fei tell the truth?"

"Hmm..." Wan Jianfeng thought for a moment and said, "King Wei, this matter is complicated and simple. We can shoot arrows straight. This guy's father was a soldier under the Emperor Taizu and had a deep affection for him. Now he has a fatal disease when he is old. His father is lying on the bed with his breath left. His mind is full of the scenes of following Taizu to the battle in the past. He is old and confused. He speaks incoherently and actually asks his son to invite Taizu to see him for the last time. Don't say that there is a difference between the monarch and the people. It is unreasonable for the emperor to see the common people. Even if there is, Taizu has passed away for so many years. Where can we find him? His son had no choice but to take a brass stick and pretend to be the Panlong Golden Stick that Taizu used to use. Unexpectedly, his father saw through the flaw and he had to come to Tokyo to find the real stick."

Zhao Tingmei asked, "Since he came here to look for Taizu's golden stick, why did he steal the golden mace?"

Wan Jianfeng said, "He had never been to Tokyo before, and had never seen Taizu's golden stick, so he had to ask around. He heard a rumor somewhere that Taizu had his golden stick melted down before his death to make the concave golden mace of the Eighth King. He saw that there was no place to steal the golden stick, so he had to steal the golden mace."

Zhao Tingmei said half-doubtfully: "Are you serious? But what does this have to do with Yuntai Temple? Didn't he say that he came to steal the golden mace for the sake of Master Chen Tuan?"

Wan Jianfeng didn't know that Ying Fei had mentioned Chen Tuan's name, and he couldn't help but secretly said badly in his heart. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and said after a pause: "This guy is worried that you don't believe his words and kill him with a knife, so he had to make up some big words to fool you and make you think the situation is serious. What if you get scared and let him go? But in the final analysis, it's not as complicated as you think. It's just a little thing about a foolish son and a bastard father."

Zhao Tingmei, with his many years of experience in solving cases, always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Zhao Yuanzuo smiled slightly and gave Wan Jianfeng an admiring look, "Uncle Wang, I think what Master Wan said is reasonable. I will take him to the palace to see my father."

Zhao Tingmei said with relief: "Okay, Uncle Wang will be relieved to leave this matter to you. As long as you take this guy out of Kaifeng Prefecture, this person will have nothing to do with Kaifeng Prefecture. As for the judgment, it all depends on the emperor's will." After a moment, in the imperial study.

At three o'clock in the morning, Zhao Guangyi was already drowsy with his imperial pen in hand before he had finished reviewing the memorials. In the past few days, he had to pay attention to the war in the south, be wary of the Liao Kingdom in the north and the Tanguts in the west, and pay close attention to the turmoil in Dongjing City caused by the golden mace. It was really exhausting.

Wang Jie'en stood by the dragon desk, silently watching Zhao Guangyi's depressed look, feeling distressed. But he knew the official's temper, and if he asked him to rest or rashly put forward various suggestions on the memorials, he would only be scolded. Therefore, apart from frequently adding some new tea to Zhao Guangyi, there was really nothing he could do to help.

"Dangdangdang..." Wang Jie'en was just about to bring another bowl of hot tea to Zhao Guangyi when there was a sudden knock on the door. Zhao Guangyi was awakened by the knock and felt a little unhappy.

Wang Jie'en hurriedly asked, "Who is coming to see the emperor so late at night and disturbing the emperor? Why don't you report it immediately?"

A heroic voice came from outside the door, saying, "Father, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. I hope you will agree." Zhao Guangyi and Wang Jie'en were very familiar with this voice. They knew it was His Royal Highness the King of Chu, Zhao Yuanzuo, without seeing the face of the person.

Zhao Guangyi felt somewhat surprised, but still said, "Yuanzuo is here, come in." Zhao Yuanzuo pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Wan Jianfeng and Ying Rufeng who was tied up.

Wang Jie'en glanced at the two people behind him and recognized one of them as Wan Jianfeng whom he had seen before at Donghua Gate. He had never seen the other one before and was puzzled. Zhao Guangyi also looked at Ying Rufeng with doubt and asked, "Yuan Zuo, who is this person?"

Zhao Yuanzuo pointed at Ying Rufeng and said, "This man is Ying Fei, the master thief who stole the golden mace."

Zhao Guangyi subconsciously tightened his grip on the pen, and his expression became more alert. "Ying Fei... I don't think I've ever heard of such a person in the underworld. Judging from his age, he must have only been around for a short time. Yuan Zuo just came to report that he had caught the thief who stole the treasure. It's been so long, so I guess he must have confessed, right? Submit the confession quickly. I want to see who gave him such courage!" (End of this chapter)